1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to refuse containers, and more particularly to molded, refuse containers featuring a hinge assembly formed between integral components of a container body and a lid, enabling a hinged connection devoid of bolts, pins or fasteners.
2. Description of Related Art
Refuse containers are typically used for the curbside collection of rubbish from personal residences and small businesses. In many municipalities today, automated equipment, such as side-loading refuse trucks having a retractable lifting clamp, handle refuse containers by grasping, lifting and inverting the container to empty its contents.
Such refuse containers conventionally include hinged lids to reduce odors permeating from the refuse container and to the shield the refuse in the container from the elements, e.g., rain and/or wind. In addition, such containers additionally include some type of wheeled support and maneuvering handle to afford easy portability of the container, especially when filled with refuse. The manufacture of conventional containers having hinged lids, wheels and handles, however, requires extensive post-molding assembly procedures, such as, for example, drilling additional holes, mounting additional hardware, and assembling together a multitude of parts.
In an attempt to reduce the complexity of the assembly process and simplify the design of such containers, others have conceived of somewhat simpler designs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,976 to Snyder discloses a portable molded container including a container body and a lid having transversely spaced hinge means with transversely aligned holes. A hinge rod passes through the holes to provide a pivot and to serve as the container handle; the hinge means are spaced apart to allow the rod to be exposed in two sections along its length. Press-on cap nuts secure the rod in place through the hinge means. Although the container design disclosed in the Snyder patent reduces the number of parts forming a hinge/handle assembly between the refuse container and lid, the design still requires five separate parts to construct the hinge/handle assembly.
The number of parts needed to assemble the prior refuse containers creates a number of problems. First, during the manufacturing process more effort is necessary to dimension, layout and fabricate the extra holes, pins and fasteners. Second, shipping the additional parts adds expense and increases the possibility of omitting small parts. Third, the greater the number of parts, the more difficult it becomes to maintain a sufficient stock of components to prevent a stoppage of production. Production ceases if one component is out of stock. Fourth, the assembly is complicated due to the necessity of aligning and joining together the multitude of components, thus increasing production time and labor costs. In addition, there is a greater likelihood of tolerance mismatch between a large number of components, further frustrating the assembly process. Smaller parts can also get lost during the assembly. Finally, the fastening mechanism of the aforementioned prior are typically of metal construction prone to corrosion.